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The mountains are high and the Emperor is far away : credit scoring and the infrastructure of surveillance capitalism in China
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Xu, Ruowen, Millo, Yuval and Spence, Crawford (2023) The mountains are high and the Emperor is far away : credit scoring and the infrastructure of surveillance capitalism in China. Contemporary Accounting Research . doi:10.1111/1911-3846.12925 ISSN 0823-9150. (In Press)
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.12925
Abstract
Previous research on calculative intermediaries shows how these effectively challenge, distort, and disrupt accounting practices in ways that policy-makers might not anticipate. The promises of surveillance capitalism—with its attendant data architectures, datafication processes, and technological sophistication—are different, supposing more accurate ways of reading individuals and greater calculative certainty overall. Yet there is little empirical research to explore how surveillance capitalism manifests itself at the organizational level, either conceptually or operationally. As a result, it remains uncertain whether such specters of omniscience are as haunting in reality as they appear in theory. We explore these themes by way of an ethnographic study into credit scoring in China, showing how intermediary organizations developed a multiplicity of credit scoring models based on machine learning and big data that differed both from original expectations and from each other. These different “renditions” of credit scoring suggest that the data architectures of surveillance capitalism are just as much subject to challenge and adaptation by intermediary organizations as calculative practices such as accounting are in more analog environments.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HF Commerce H Social Sciences > HG Finance Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Electronic computers. Computer science. Computer software |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Accounting Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Credit scoring systems -- China, Credit control -- China, Social credit -- China, Big data -- Economic aspects -- China, Big data -- Government policy -- China, Automatic data collection systems, Consumer behavior -- Data processing | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Contemporary Accounting Research | ||||||
Publisher: | John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | ||||||
ISSN: | 0823-9150 | ||||||
Official Date: | 19 December 2023 | ||||||
Dates: |
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DOI: | 10.1111/1911-3846.12925 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | In Press | ||||||
Re-use Statement: | This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Xu, R., Millo, Y. and Spence, C. (2023), The mountains are high and the Emperor is far away: Credit scoring and the infrastructure of surveillance capitalism in China. Contemp Account Res., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.12925. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited. | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Free Access (unspecified licence, 'bronze OA') | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 15 December 2023 | ||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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